Physical traumatization of individuals can occur in various ways. For example, trauma can be imposed intentionally during physical altercations, as a result of spousal or child abuse, etc. Traumatization can also result accidentally. The society in which we live is fast-paced, and, when one considers the plethora of automobiles on the roads of virtually every country of the world today, it is not difficult to recognize the volatile conditions which contribute to the numerous automobile accidents which result. Concerns about automobile accident trauma are borne up by statistics. Automobile accidents are one of the most common causes of death in today's society.
When physical trauma occurs as a result of either intentional or accidental circumstances, an ambulance is, typically, dispatched to the trauma location. Initial evaluation is performed as to the extent of injury and, frequently, a determination is made that it is appropriate to transport the victim to a hospital. Initial analysis will have resulted in the making of a preliminary diagnosis as to anatomical location and type of trauma experienced. In some cases, a relatively peremptory determination can be made that the injury is limited to a particular part of the victim. For example, it may be able to be quickly determined that, for example, an automobile crash victim has a broken leg and that the trauma is limited to the leg area. In such a case, the victim may be able to be transported to a hospital with only the leg immobilized.
In other cases, however, it may be determined that the person injured has experienced head, neck, or spinal injuries. In these cases it would almost be essential to totally immobilize the person for transportation. The same might be true if there were difficulty in evaluating the situation and there were any possibility that failure to totally immobilize the victim might result in additional injury.
If substantially total immobilization is necessary, an ambulance attendant would use a stretcher board on which the individual would be placed. Appropriate strap means would be employed to secure the victim to the board. Of particular concern is head and neck immobilization. Not only should the head and neck be immobilized in a direction longitudinally with respect to the stretcher board, but they should also be precluded from movement wherein the head turns to the left or to the right.
To accomplish these goals, the prior art has provided a structure which defined a seat in which the victim's head can be received. The seat comprises a cushion which includes two mounds, one disposable on either side of a location of which the victim's head would be positioned when strapped to the stretcher board. Such a head stabilizer is, typically, detachable from the stretcher board and is secured to the board by, for example, material identified under the trademark VELCRO. Such a stabilization device as known in the prior art is made by securing one lamina in an overlying relationship to a second lamina. It is intended that the laminae be flexible so that the structure can be folded for storage. One lamina is longer so that pockets can be defined for permanent receipt of cushion-type blocks therein. Blocks made, for example, of a high-density polyfoam material have been utilized for this purpose, and when used in the application, are permanently enclosed in pockets defined between the laminae. Ends of the pockets are closed so that the structure becomes an integrated assembly. With the blocks so enclosed and secured within the pockets, the blocks define the mounds between which the victim's head would be received. An appropriate strap could be secured across the chin and the eyebrows of the victim, ends of the strap being secured to the mounds, typically, by material marketed under the trademark VELCRO.
A frequent material used for manufacture of the laminae in which the pockets are defined is a washable vinyl. It is, of course, desirable that the material be able to be cleaned. If the trauma occurred as a result, for example, of an automobile accident, bodily fluids from the victim might impregnate the material if it were not able to be cleaned, and the material might become a fertile ground for bacterial growth.
The prior art does not, however, consider problems which arise as a result of employment of a high-density polyfoam material as the block inserts held within the pockets defined within the laminae. The vinyl laminae permanently enclose the block inserts within the pockets created, by stitching portions of fabric together. As a result, bodily fluids can seep through the stitched seams where segments of material are sewn together. Consequently, while the vinyl laminar covering might be cleaned and a user of the implement be lulled into a sense of security thinking that the implement has not permitted bacterial growth, such growth might actually be occurring in a rampant fashion within the block inserts. Certainly, this is an undesirable situation.
It is to these problems and dictates of the prior art that the present invention is directed. It is a trauma victim head immobilization apparatus which can be fully cleaned so that the likelihood of bacterial growth occurring is extremely minimal.